Suu Kyi ends boycott of Burma's Parliament

The party of Burma’s opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi agreed on Monday to end a boycott of Parliament and swear an oath to protect the Constitution, said party officials, apparently ending a dispute with the government.

Officials in her National League for Democracy party said they could attend from Wednesday.

“As a gesture of respect to the desires of the people and in consideration of the requests made by lawmakers from democratic parties and independent lawmakers, we have decided to attend the parliament,” Suu Kyi told reporters after a meeting of party leaders.

“We will go there as soon as possible and take the oath and attend the parliament,” she added.

Suu Kyi is to meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Rangoon on Tuesday, which is also a public holiday. Lawmakers from her NLD party will therefore travel to the capital, Naypyitaw, for the session on Wednesday, officials said.

The NLD had wanted to replace the words “safeguard the Constitution” with “respect the constitution” in the oath sworn by new members of Parliament.—Reuters